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“I will continue to describe Israel as a war-mongering state as long as Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister, violates the Oslo peace treaty,” Möllemann says
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BERLIN,
September 19 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – A senior German
politician from the Free Democratic Party described Israel as a
“war-mongering state” and attacked the current Israeli
Government’s war on the Palestinians and its constant violation of
peace treaties.
“I
will continue to describe Israel as a war-mongering state as long as
Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister, violates the Oslo peace treaty,”
news agencies quoted Jürgen Möllemann, deputy chairman of the
Free Democrats, as telling an applauding audience at an election rally
in Aachen.
Möllemann
has already been in hot water for declaring that there should be no
taboo on criticizing Israel. His comments in May almost ripped apart
his party, but also gave it a temporary boost in the opinion polls.
Many German voters agree with Möllemann.
No
one, he said, would stop him, not even “the Friedmanns of this
world”. Michel Friedmann, a Christian Democrat who is also deputy
leader of the Jewish community, is one of Möllemann’s most
outspoken critics.
Last
week, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder described Möllemann
as one of the sensible voices in the Free Democratic Party.
But,
for the Free Democrats, the incident of criticizing the occupying
state of Israel seems to be profoundly embarrassing. The party regards
itself as the kingmaker in a tight election, capable of a coalition
with either the Social Democrats or the Christian Democrats.
Möllemann
hatched the Free Democrat plan to declare 18 per cent support as its
target. A liberal group appealing mainly to small businessmen and
economic reformers, it rarely scores much more than 10 per cent.
Both
the phrasing and the timing — in the midst of a debate on whether
Germany should fight Iraq — have ensured that Möllemann is
being ostracized by the political establishment.
Paul
Spiegel, the head of the Central Council of German Jews, said:
“Anyone who positions himself like this in the final stretch of an
election campaign has disqualified himself from a democratic
election.”
Other
Free Democrats, nervous that Möllemann would deny their chance of
power, distanced themselves. “An unbelievable error,” Burkhard
Hirsch said. “Not very sensible,” Guido Westerwelle, the party
leader, said.
Möllemann
chairs the German-Arab friendship society and has many contacts in the
Middle East.
